Vegetarians Came Out With Meatless Burger Patties That “Bleed” Because Why Not

Meat is awesome but it’s unsustainable, according to environmental experts. If you love meat so much it hurts but worried about the kind of negative impact you are imparting on the environment, goody-two shoes vegetarians found the perfect alternative, meatless burger patties that “bleed.”

A Stanford educated biochemist came up with an eco-friendly alternative, meatless burgers that taste like meat, looks like meat and even feels like meat. But it’s made entirely of plant based ingredients. And science-y magic.

Biochemist Patrick Brown developed the meatless burger patties and the product is now up for mass production under his company, aptly named, Impossible Foods.

So check out the goods:

The secret to this succulent-looking burgers is an ingredient called “heme.” Heme is extracted from a protein found in leguminous plants called leghemoglobin. Leghemoglobin is similar to hemoglobin found in our blood. Both of these proteins work to transport oxygen, facilitated by the heme groups.

So how does the meatless burger patty bleed? Well, heme is comprised of an iron atom centered inside an organic ring. When the oxygen binds to this iron atom, it becomes oxidized, turning whole protein red, so the end product is a meatless patty that looks decidedly bloody meaty.

What’s more, the iron atom not only contributes to the overall look of genuine meat, it also creates flavors similar to those found in meat products.

Brown has perfected the recipe to get the taste right using different plant-based ingredients. Each patty is a bit expensive at $20 but it’s way cheaper than test-tube burgers that retails for a jaw-dropping $330,000!

Brown hopes that one day, his little meatless product will be able to replicate the absolute beefy taste so even meat lovers will start eating the eco-friendly patties.